Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Arp Schnitger's career as an organ-builder began in 1666 when he was apprenticed to his cousin Berend Huss, who was then engaged in building the organ for the church of St. Cosmae. The three manual divisions were completed in 1671, and under a separate contract Huss and his staff began work on the pedal division.

Vincent Lubeck - by J. Kelemen - Schnitger Organ, St Cosmae in Stade

Vincent Lübeck, who was organist there from 1675 until 1702, later asked Schnitger to make some modifications to the organ, and this work was completed in 1688. Since then the organ has suffered several different modifications, including having the Rückpositiv moved from its original position to a hidden position behind the main case from 1870 until 1948.157 Restoration of the instrument to the state in which Schnitger left it in 1688 was completed by Jürgen Ahrend in 1975.

In its complete form, the organ is a marvelous example of the Werkprinzip organ of late seventeenth-century Germany, and the defining characteristics can be found in its appearance as well as in its stoplist.

After reconstruction of the church following a fire in Stade, Berendt Huß from Glückstadt began construction of a new organ for the church of Sts. Cosmæ and Damiani in 1666. Two years prior to signing the contract for the Oberwerk, Huß's nephew Arp Schnitger joined the workshop. The contract for the Rückpositiv was signed in 1670, the Pedal in 1671, and the Brustwerk in 1672.

The organ was completed in 1675 with notable influences of the young Schnitger: inner pipework was of a 23% tin alloy, and the arrangement of the façade pipes corresponds with Schnitger’s later work. The Oberwerk chest, the oldest, is a spring chest as opposed to the later convention of slider windchests.

Vincent Lübeck was organist from 1675–1702. At his request, Schnitger installed the Trommet 16' in the Oberwerk. The Glockenspiel (45 bells) was installed at the end of the 18th century. A complete restoration of the organ was completed in 1975 by Jürgen Ahrend of Loga-Leer.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

In 1639 Hans Henrich Bader receives a contract for adding a new Rugpositief to the existing organ. After this work is completed, a few years later, a contract follows for a new Hoofdwerk and Pedal. The resulting instrument will remain virtually unchanged until 1813.

In 1813, Wilhelmus Johannes Timpe completes an extensive renovation of the instrument and on that occasion the organ is moved from the north side to the choir of the church. Timpe, builds a new support structure under the existing organ case and locates windchests of the Hoofdwerk in the former lower organcase. Behind the original Hoofdwerk façade he instals a new Bovenwerk. He constructs new windchests, manuals, mechanisms and bellows and wind channels. The disposition of the instrument is substantially amended and expanded. He also lowered the pitch.

In 1906, the organ is moved by G. Spit to the tower wall of the church. On this occasion all reeds are replaced.

In 1976 SF Blank performed a partial restoration of the disposition of the Hoofdwerk.

In 1996 a complete restoration follows by Orgelmakerij Gebr. Reil.The Hoofdwerk, Rugpositief and Pedal are returned, as much as possible, to the condition of 1643 and Bovenwerk of Timpe is also maintained. The Hoofdwerk receives a new windchest. Also, all reeds are replaced. The remaining pipes are repaired and where necessary completed. The remaining Bader Pipes are mainly found in the Hoofdwerk and Rugpositief and also the Prestanten of the pedal are original. The Bovenwerk is largely Timpe, with exception of the Prestant 8' and Roerfluit 8', which are Bader also. The winding consists of five bellows, four of which date from 1643. Presently the organ is tuned in 1 / 6 comma mean tone tuning.Orgelmakerij Gebr. Reil bv, Heerde, thoroughly restored the organ and returned it to its original 1639 character in the period 1993-1996.

The Bader Organ is one of the largest organs in the Netherlands from the period of the late Renaissance.

Normally dated 1521, this organ is among the best-preserved sixteenth-century organs of northern Europe. Although the case has the date of 1521 inscribed on it, it’s possible that that date may be the date of a rebuilding of the organ using even earlier pipework. The instrument has one manual and no pedal division. All stops are original, with the Bourdon dating from the first half of the eighteenth century. The Flentrop firm restored the organ in 1967 and again in 2003. The case is an original Gothic case with three wooden towers and the 8-foot Praestant in the façade. The entire instrument bespeaks nobility when heard in the room. All the sounds are strong.The single keyboard has a range beginning on F and extending to a.” In the bottom octave, there is no F# or G#; and in the top octave there is no G#. There are no pedals.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The organ at Leżajski is one of the most valuable monuments of art in Europe in terms of organ construction and ornamentation of the instrument. The organ was built around 1680 by Stanisław Studziński of Przeworska.
Further improvements were done by Jan Głowiński from Krakow, who completed his work in 1693.
Unusually rich decoration, carvings and gilding, was applied by the religious order.

BWV 564

BWV 565

J.S. Bach: Preludium D major BWV 532

Further changes were applied in the years 1903-05 in the romantic style of Alexander Zebrowski, and in the years 1965-68 Robert Polcyn from Poznan worked on the restoration of the baroque sound.
In the years 2000-2003, a thorough renovation took place, which was initially led by the French company Manufacture Provençale d'Orgues, and the then organist Adam Wolański. Thanks to a true appreciation of the value of the original organ, the last restoration returned the organ to its original musical values retaining its pleasing aesthetic and architectural condition.

Jan Podbielski, Prelude

The Lezajski organ is not one instrument. These are 3 separate instruments.
On each side a smaller instrument has been built, and in the main nave the great organ is positioned.

The organ traction is mechanical and it has a total of 75 stops. Interesting additional devices are the cuckoo, drum (tympanum), birds and the “horribile” stop.
The pedal has a full vote 32 '- which means that the largest pipe is over 10 meters long. Four decorative cabinets connect all the organs to the main decoration of the choir. The monumental facade fills the entire the western side of the basilica.

BWV 549

The main organ stands 15 meters high and 7.5 m in width - but it is practically and visually linked to the two neighboring instruments on each side to form a monumental ensemble of organ, on which - the only organ in the world - 3 organists can play simultaneously .

Baroque monastery and pipe organ from XVII century. The fabulous woodcarving decoration of the choir stalls and organ prospect is the work of the Bernardine fathers.